Mercy Community

The Mercy Community history lies within the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy. On 10 May 1861, a small group of Sisters including Mother Vincent Whitty arrived in Brisbane, from Ireland. Motivated by a deep concern for struggling families and vulnerable children within the Brisbane community, the Sisters established St Vincent’s Home, Nudgee. This Mercy ministry evolved and expanded over the years to include support for people living with a disability, aged care and those seeking asylum in Australia.

The varied services offered by the Sisters of Mercy in different regions of Brisbane were amalgamated into Mercy Family Services (MFS) in 1996. In 2009, Romero Centre for support of asylum seekers joined. In 2011, Mercy Community was named when Families, Disability, Aged Care and Asylum Seeker services were consolidated. In April 2018 Mercy Community joined Mercy Partners, enabling their various ministries to flourish under lay leadership. Today, Mercy Community’s team of over 1300 people operates across a network that extends from Northern New South Wales to Far North Queensland and encompasses urban, rural and remote communities.

As Mercy Community looks to the future, the organisation is dedicated to building on the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy, and delivering on its mission every day in every way. This vision includes bringing together all the Mercy ministries across Queensland that deliver community services.  This harmonisation process begins with Mercy Health and Aged Care Central Queensland (MHACCQ) joining with MCS SEQ Ltd. In coming together with other Mercy Ministries to grow our Aged Care service, as well as strengthening and broadening the Disability and Families and Young People (FYP) services, Mercy Community looks forward to continuing to respond in a flexible and agile way to the needs of the people we support.

Mercy Community was entrusted to the care of Mercy Partners by the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane Congregation on 11 April 2018.